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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 16, 2018 3:18:28 GMT -5
10. Classic Comics 32 - Lorna Doone
(...) This is Baker's only work in the Classics line, and it his longest work by far, coming in at 52 pages. (...) Actually, Baker also did the art for the 'picture novel' It Rhymes with Lust by Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller (originally published in the 1950s; the link is to the reprint edition from the '00s) - which has almost 130 pages. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 16, 2018 3:23:33 GMT -5
#10 Friday Foster Dell, 1972 If there's any comic book that I'd consider a holy grail for acquiring, this one would probably be it. And if I had it, it would probably be one of my choices... |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 16, 2018 3:42:12 GMT -5
Star Trek Alien Spotlight: Romulans #1; Star Trek Romulans: The Hollow Crown #1-2by John Byrne (IDW, Feb./Sept.-Oct., 2008)  I almost dropped this, because the over-arching plot that starts in these three issues is only concluded in a 3-part mini called "The Schism," which was published in 2009 (and which are all reprinted in the tpb I have, Pawns of War). But I just had to give a shout-out to this story in particular and Byrne's Trek comics in general. These issues are basically a glimpse into the Romulan Empire at the time just before, during and after the events of the TOS season 1 episode "Balance of Terror." The Romulan commander from that series appears in the Alien Spotlight issue, and the later issues feature his widow and son, who become entangled in Romulan high politics (and the focus of the corrupt and sleazy imperial praetor's intrigues). I thought Byrne did an outstanding job of capturing the feel and look of the original series, while telling a solid story from a different perspective - with a very contemporary sensibility. 
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 16, 2018 4:50:22 GMT -5
10. Walt Disney's Zorroby Alex Toth and friends Dell, 1958-61 At some young age, I woke up early-- a habit I grew out of. But I woke up early for one reason, something more compelling than boring things like school or work. The Disney Channel showed the old Zorro episodes at 530am or some such time. And I was a big fan. Fast forward 20+ years and I'm following the Classic Comics boards on CBR. And somewhere over there (perhaps even on an old Classic Comics Christmas?) someone (perhaps Lone Ranger) suggested I read the Alex Toth Zorro work. Alex Toth is an artist whose name I am quite familiar with from 30 years of interest in the comics medium. I recognized him as one of the recognized greats. But the amount of work of his I had actually read was shamefully little. Here in a nice reprint collection was a chance to correct my Alex Toth reading deficiency and revisit one of my favorite childhood TV shows delightfully brought to life by a master storyteller in all its swashbuckling glory. The book I have was published in black and white by Image in 2001 and collects Toth's Zorro stories from assorted issues of Four Color Comics and Walt Disney's Zorro. 
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 16, 2018 6:11:54 GMT -5
10. Doc Savage: Man of Bronze #1 - 4 (Millennium, 1991) When this year's topic was announced, I found myself wondering if a Doc Savage tale would make my list. I am a huge fan of the Man of the Bronze, but he has never been particularly well-served by his comic book incarnations. Which is odd given that he was a huge influence on the development of both Superman and Batman. But, for some reason, his comic appearances have generally been lackking: from the underwhelming (Marvel's colour series) to the adequate (Marvels b&w magazine) to the misguided (DC's 1980s book) to the regrettable (DC's First Line book). And I found myself wondering why this is. The conclusion that I came to is that the comic books insist on putting Doc front and centre of the action. This is understandable. He is the central character after all, and the most visually interesting. But, in the novels, Doc tends be 'off-screen' for much of the action, with events seen through the eyes of Doc's aides, who are just as much in the dark as to Doc's plan as the reader. This strips Doc of much of his mystique. And the adaptations insist on shoe-horning all five of Doc's aides (and often Pat) into every story. Very few of the novels actually featured the entire cast, and this results in the comics feeling crowded, and not much room for character development among the Fabulous Five. So, after this 'insight', I found myself wondering if any of the adaptations did warrant a place on my list. To my surprise, I can up with two possibilities. After weighing things up, several intangibles, I decided on the Millennium series; partly because I feel it is the more obscure. In particular their first miniseries Doc Savage: Man of Bronze (which, despite sharing a title with the first Doc Savage novel, is not a retelling of it). This is a solid little tale. The writer understood the beats of a Doc Savage novel, and managed to hit them perfectly. And included some jokes for the fans, such as talking about getting the jetpack from a kid in California (a Rocketeer reference). And he did not feel the need to rewrite Doc to update him, or make him 'relevant'. What we ended up with is a solid Doc tale that would not be out of place in the novels (and would be better than some of them). The later minis are decent, but always felt a bit rushed, and the artwork deteriorated as the run went on, before finally sinking along with the rest of Millennium. But it is good to know that there is at least one example of Doc savage done right in comics. The interior art on these was some of the earliest pro work of Daryl Banks (better known as the artist behind most of the Kyle Rayner run of GL), who is local here and a regular on our con circuit. He was pleasantly surprised when I brought the first issue for him to sign at Gem City a couple years back as it was one of the few times he has had anyone bring it to him. He talked about how much he learnd doing the series and how hard it was to live up the bar set by the Stelfreeze covers on the books. -M Not to drift too much but, I recently re-bought Banks GL run. He and Marz changed GL for me. For the better, I might add. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 16, 2018 6:20:06 GMT -5
10. Walt Disney's Zorroby Alex Toth and friends Dell, 1958-61 At some young age, I woke up early-- a habit I grew out of. But I woke up early for one reason, something more compelling than boring things like school or work. The Disney Channel showed the old Zorro episodes at 530am or some such time. And I was a big fan. Fast forward 20+ years and I'm following the Classic Comics boards on CBR. And somewhere over there (perhaps even on an old Classic Comics Christmas?) someone (perhaps Lone Ranger) suggested I read the Alex Toth Zorro work. Alex Toth is an artist whose name I am quite familiar with from 30 years of interest in the comics medium. I recognized him as one of the recognized greats. But the amount of work of his I had actually read was shamefully little. Here in a nice reprint collection was a chance to correct my Alex Toth reading deficiency and revisit one of my favorite childhood TV shows delightfully brought to life by a master storyteller in all its swashbuckling glory. The book I have was published in black and white by Image in 2001 and collects Toth's Zorro stories from assorted issues of Four Color Comics and Walt Disney's Zorro. This on totally flew under my radar. I remember watching the Disney show from the 60's but never knew he was created in 1919. Nice pick. |
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Post by Phil Maurice on Dec 16, 2018 7:20:33 GMT -5
Actually, Baker also did the art for the 'picture novel' It Rhymes with Lust by Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller (originally published in the 1950s; the link is to the reprint edition from the '00s) - which has almost 130 pages. That slipped my mind altogether. Thanks for the correction.  |
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Post by shaxper on Dec 16, 2018 9:18:18 GMT -5
More important, though, is the role this story played in turning Marvel Comics into "Marvel Comics," and Stan Lee into "Stan Lee." Plenty has been said about Stan's genius in making fans feel like they were part of something, that they knew the "Marvel Bullpen." Stan turned the previously faceless and nameless creators behind the comic into part of the experience, into cool celebrities. And it really starts here, as he literally adapts himself and Jack, turning the two of them into larger than life figures that can share a page with Reed Richards and Dr. Doom and not feel out of place. So in a strange way, this story is just the start of a much bigger adaptation. Because for the rest of his life, Stan Lee was in a real sense playing the character that he created here, adapting his own life after the comic book version fans believed was real, in order to make it real. Life, imitating art, imitating life. And it a super fun story! That's...genius. I love this. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 16, 2018 9:21:44 GMT -5
And on the Third Day of Classic Comics Christmas I give to thee... Space Ghost!
2005
While my love of Space Ghost goes back to my childhood, where in the early days of Cartoon Network there was like an hour of Space Ghost a day right after I got home from school(and much later in the day Space Ghost Coast to Coast!) this book is something I only became aware of earlier this year. While discussing DC's excellent Future Quest and how I wanted more in that vain someone, I think Slam_Bradley , brought my attention to this six issue mini by Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti and it's quickly become a favorite. Normally I'm not one to think that every hero needs some big origin story, and before I read this I certainly didn't think Space Ghost needed one, but I absolutely loved how Kelly made Space Ghost basically the Lone Ranger in Space as he's left for dead and upon recovering goes out only for revenge but slowly decides Justice is better. That grim and gritty origin may not seem to fit with the colorful cartoon you remember, but trust me by the time the mini runs it's course you have no trouble believing that Space Ghost goes right from this book to having all the cartoon adventures you remember. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 16, 2018 11:23:37 GMT -5
My number 10 is Bernie Wrightson's adaptation of Frankenstein.  Most people, when they adapt Frankenstein, look at the James Whale film, not the original novel. not Wrightson; he went to the source. He sets the story fully in the period where Shelley placed it, he makes it look like it was produced then.   Wrightson makes the illustrations look like woodcutts, of the period, which gives a creepy edge to everything. It is stark black and white, with tons of small details. It is just amazing to look at.  Is that gorgeous or what? Wrightson spent a long time on this and it shows. It's an obvious labor of love and you wish that any of the film monsters could catch this look. He gives it a hint of Karloff, around the eyes and forehead; but, pretty much follows Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's descriptions. I was never a big horror fan; but, this is pure art! My only regret is that he never did an adaptation of Young Frankenstein. I'd love to have seen him handle Marty Feldman (who turned up in Star Child) and Madeline Kahn. While I love, love, love Wrightson's art on this, I passed on it for this topic because I didn't think it was really an adaptation or a comic really, it's Shelly's complete and unabridged novel printed with illustration pieces, not sequential art, but spot illustrations, from Wrightson, so I (not Kurt or anyone else) disqualified it from my list. Glad to see it get some love though. -M Unfortunately, you're right. As an illustrated novel rather than an honest-to-goodness comic, Wrightson's Frankenstein is not eligible. cody will need to make a different selection. Sorry.
Cei-U! It has to be a comic, folks! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 16, 2018 12:03:42 GMT -5
I think we are splitting hairs; but, fine. I substitute the First Comics Classics Illustrated revival edition of Ivanhoe....  Beautifully illustrated, it captures the adventure and romance of Sir Walter Scott's masterpiece. Everything is there, from the jousts between ivanhoe and the norman champions, to the siege of the castle, to the trial by combat to save Rebecca. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 16, 2018 12:15:04 GMT -5
It's not "splitting hairs" to insist that entries to a survey about comic books actually feature a comic book. A novel, no matter how beautiful its illustrations (and, boy, is Wrightson's work beautiful), is not a comic book, period.
Cei-U!
There's a reason I refer to these events as a challenge!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 16, 2018 13:45:29 GMT -5
Eh...what the hell. My lists are pretty fluid. I'll just adjust it when I get to the office. 10. The EC adaptations of Ray Bradbury - EC Comics (1950s).  Throughout their publication history EC adapted a large number of stories written by Ray Bradbury. These stories were across genres and across the EC titles. The story behind the adaptations is pretty fun. Essentially Gaines and Feldstein stole a Bradbury story and got called on it by Bradbury. At that time Gaines told Bradbury that he'd been unable to contact him and paid for the story and made arrangements to adapt more. I'm a huge Bradbury fan and a pretty big fan of EC Comics. And while the quality varies from story to story overall these are excellent adaptations of excellent short-stories. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 16, 2018 15:02:50 GMT -5
Eh...what the hell. My lists are pretty fluid. I'll just adjust it when I get to the office. 10. The EC adaptations of Ray Bradbury - EC Comics (1950s). Throughout their publication history EC adapted a large number of stories written by Ray Bradbury. These stories were across genres and across the EC titles. The story behind the adaptations is pretty fun. Essentially Gaines and Feldstein stole a Bradbury story and got called on it by Bradbury. At that time Gaines told Bradbury that he'd been unable to contact him and paid for the story and made arrangements to adapt more. I'm a huge Bradbury fan and a pretty big fan of EC Comics. And while the quality varies from story to story overall these are excellent adaptations of excellent short-stories. All great choices. "Home to Stay" was on my first list. It may still nudge its way up. I also love "The Black Ferris." |
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 16, 2018 15:48:33 GMT -5
10. The Simpsons (Bongo 1993 - 2018)  I love The Simpsons. It truly is a classic in many ways and I’m amazed it’s lasted as long as it has. I’m sad, however, that almost immediately after the agreement of Disney buying Fox that Groening killed the entire publishing venture. The comic was as close to the show as could be possible with great talent on it. It’s a shame it didn’t have more support or distribution. When Groening, an obvious life long comic book fan, started Bongo, he said he wanted to put some actual humor books back on the stands, and he did. I'm really sad to see Bongo die, especially when Groening is super rich and could support it if he wanted to. Oh well; it was a pretty good 25 year run. Highest recommendation if you like The Simpsons.  |
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